Appointments

How to Book an Appointment

In an EMERGENCY call 999.
Emergencies are situations that cannot be managed at home and may be life threatening. 
If you or someone you know has a life-threatening condition, such as loss of consciousness, chest pain, breathing difficulties etc, you should call 999.

Routine prebookable appointments can be booked via the NHS app, calling the Care Navigation team or visiting the surgery – these may be telephone calls or face to face appointments.

If you have an urgent on the day health concern please contact us as soon as possible as there are limited 'book on the day' slots available. We open at 8am.

If you need an urgent appointment in the morning you will be offered an appointment with one of the duty doctors, however this may not be your regular GP.

Pharmacy First

Most pharmacies can help you with seven common conditions without needing a GP appointment.

Speak to your pharmacist if you suspect you have:

  • Sinusitis (adults and children aged 12 years and over)
  • Sore throat (adults and children aged 5 years and over)
  • Earache (children aged 1 year to 17 years)
  • Infected insect bite (adults and children aged 1 year and over)
  • Impetigo (adults and children aged 1 year and over)
  • Shingles (adults aged 18 years and over)
  • Urinary tract infection (women, aged 16 to 64 years)

Visit your Pharmacy First!

Pharmacy First

Patients can now get treatment for seven common conditions directly from their local pharmacy, without the need for a GP appointment or prescription.

The Pharmacy First scheme was launched by the government and NHS England on 31 January 2024 to give patients quick and accessible care and ease pressure on GP services.

But what does it cover and who will benefit? Here's everything you need to know.

What is Pharmacy First?

Pharmacy First will enable community pharmacists to supply prescription-only medicines, including antibiotics and antivirals where clinically appropriate, to treat seven common health conditions without the need to visit a GP.

What are the seven common conditions

  • Sinusitis
  • Sore throat
  • Earache
  • Infected insect bite
  • Impetigo (a bacterial skin infection)
  • Shingles
  • Uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women

How can I access treatment from my pharmacy?

You can get treatment for these conditions by walking into the pharmacy or contacting them virtually.

GP receptionists, NHS 111 and providers of emergency care will also be able to direct patients to pharmacies, that offer the service, if contacted.

What will happen when I arrive at the pharmacy?

The pharmacist will be able to speak to you privately in a separate consultation room. They may perform an examination or ask to access your medical records.

The pharmacist will be able to recommend the best course of action on an individual patient basis, including by issuing prescriptions for antibiotics or antivirals where necessary.

How will this reduce NHS waiting times?

By reducing the number of patients with common conditions, needing blood pressure checks or oral contraception visiting a GP, Pharmacy First aims to free up 10 million GP appointments a year by next winter for more complex diagnosis.

This will give GPs time and space to see patients with more complex conditions.

Four in five people in England can reach a community pharmacy within a 20-minute walk and there are twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived communities, making access to care quicker and more convenient.

Local pharmacies that offer this service

  • Field Pharmacy - East Peckham
  • Boots
  • Paddock Wood Pharmacy
  • Avicenna Pharmacy - Tonbridge
  • G Currie Chemist - Tonbridge
  • Clark & Coleman - Tonbridge
  • Hadlow Pharmacy
  • East Street Pharmacy
  • Thompsons

If you are unable to attend always cancel your appointment

September Did Not Attend (DNA) Appointments

7,277

Appointments Booked

140

Did Not Attend (DNA)

Please remember that there may be a shortage of appointments and when you fail to attend you have prevented someone else from being seen in your place.

Cancellations notified less than 30 minutes before the appointment time will be recorded as failure to attend (DNA).

Repeated failure to attend booked appointments is a significant waste of NHS resources.

For more information please see our Cancel Appointment page.

Appointment Information

At both Hildenborough and Tonbridge, consultations are by appointment only. Appointments can be made by telephone, online or in person.  See our doctors' surgery times.

At other times, emergencies will be seen either during or after surgery. We run an "open" list system, which means that you may see any doctor, even if you are not registered with them.

However, it is our normal practice to encourage continuity of care with our patients.  Please try to always see the same doctor about a particular problem you have.

Appointments are for ten minutes and for one person only. Please tell the care navigator when booking if you need longer. Online appointments are currently only available for routine doctors appointments and patients must be registered with the practice to be able to use this facility.

Our care navigators may ask for a brief outline of your problem when you ring to book an appointment to help them identify the most appropriate place for your care.  This is because we have introduced something called Care Navigation. Care navigators will never offer clinical advice or triage; this new way of working is about offering you the choice to see more appropriate professionals in the practice team or even somewhere else. If they can deal with the problem directly, it will often be quicker and means you may not need to see the GP at all.

Text Message Reminders

We launched a text reminder system on 16th April 2018, please ensure we have your current mobile phone number.

Extended Access

Additional surgeries are held at Trenchwood Medical Centre on Monday evenings between 6.30pm and 8pm and on Saturday mornings between 8am and 12pm. These surgeries are for pre-booked appointments only and there will be limited access to certain support services, eg phlebotomy, at these times.

Our phone lines are not on during this period.

Emergencies will continue to be dealt with by NHS 111, the Out of Hours Service, which is accessed by dialling 111.

Register for Online Services

You can now go online to book appointments with a GP and request repeat prescriptions.

By downloading the NHS APP you will have 24/7/365 access from your home PC, Tablet or Mobile phone. To use this service you must be registered at HTMG and you must be over 13 years old to register.

Find out more about the NHS App

If you wish to add your children to your account, once you have completed your own registration, you will need to visit the surgery and complete a proxy form with two forms of ID (one being photo, the other proof of address) and your child’s birth certificate. If your child is 11 and over they will need to come to the surgery with you and provide their own ID.

If you are a carer for another adult and they consent for you to have access to their account, we can arrange proxy access. Please read NHS - Using online services, then you will both need to visit the surgery together and complete a proxy form with two forms of ID (one being photo, the other proof of address.

Advocates

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Visit NHS Someone to speak up for you